You understand how the bucket system works. It makes sense to you. But where do you start?

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1) Establishing Measures

If you are having a fever, the first thing the doctor will do is to take your temperature. Perhaps he will stick a thermometer into your mouth and prod you in a few places. This gives him a good measure of your existing condition.

"Err, thanks for the education...I didn't come here for Year 1 science"

But why aren't you doing the same with your finances?

You're in a bad financial position, in debt or are simply unhappy with the state of your finances and you mean you're not tracking your finances?

See how silly it all sounds now?

The only way to know if you are progressing is to measure and track the dollars that go into and out of your life.

Not only will it make you more aware of your current financial situation, simply tracking your finances everyday will help you to make better financial decisions. I strongly believe that there is a psychological effect of consistently tracking your finances on your overall financial well-being.

At the end of each month, you will be able to see exactly where your money is leaking and you have a chance to patch it up.

"Not knowing where your money is leaking = not knowing where to patch things up."

The best way to track your finances in this day and age is to download a money tracking app on your smartphone. I mean any one money tracking app out there is good enough, although I do enjoy using this app MoneyIQ.